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MEGAN PUT AS MUCH DISTANCE between herself and the driver as she could.
With her hands tied, she shuffled along the seat to sit diagonally opposite the driver, where she watched the woman steer erratically up the cliff path, scratching her arm until the red skin split and wept.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
“It wouldn’t mean anything if I told you,” snarled Kimberly. “So why don’t you just sit back and enjoy the drive.”
Megan sat quietly, but her mind was racing. “Have you been watching me in the village?”
Kimberly met her eye in the interior mirror. “Well spotted! Although I must have been careless if you realised. Anyway, yes, I’ve been watching you since January, actually. A couple of times, I was sitting right behind you in church when you and Jack were having your banns read. That was quite fun. It’s been a little busy in Bliss Bay recently, though—too many police around—so I’ve been biding my time before meeting you, and keeping an eye on you and Jack.”
Megan gulped. “How do you know Jack? And how did you find out about my hen weekend?”
Kimberly shook her head. “Questions, questions, so many questions, Megan, but it’s surprising what you find out in a café. You take a book with you and pretend you’re reading, and you wouldn’t believe the things you hear. I found out everything I needed to know. And as for how I know Jack... well, you’ll find out about that in good time. All in good time.”
She turned the steering wheel sharply to the left and the back of the car swung out. “Oops, sorry about that. It’s not easy trying to steer against this wind.”
Megan swallowed to find her mouth completely dry. “Where’s Helen? What did you do to her?”
“You mean what did I do with her after I took her uniform? Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. She’s in the boot trussed up like a roast turkey. She’ll be black and blue by the time she gets out, but okay otherwise. I’m not interested in causing her any harm, you see. It’s you I’ve come for.”
“But I don’t even know you... although you look so familiar.” Megan frowned, then nodded. “That’s it—you were the woman in the florist, weren’t you? Miss Ross. No, Miss Rossi. Petal made you up a bouquet of summer flowers?”
Kimberly nodded. “Wow, excellent memory. That was months ago.”
“You were wearing a baseball cap.”
“Right again,” said Kimberly. She pulled the car to a stop near the cliff edge where the wind was so strong, it was blowing tall plants horizontal to the ground. “Get out.”
“It’s blowing a gale out there! I’ll get blown off the cliff!”
“Well, that would make my job easier,” said Kimberly, her expression blank and cold.
“I’m not getting out,” said Megan.
Kimberly marched round to Megan’s side and pulled her out of the car. Grabbing her by the shoulder, she marched her closer to the cliff edge, fighting against the wind every step of the way.
When they came to a stop, Kimberly delved into the bag around her shoulder and pulled out an ugly handmade veil, made from tissue paper covered in glitter and stuck to a headband. She pushed it onto Megan’s head, and the wind licked around the tissue paper, ripping it instantly. “This is the only wedding veil you’re going to wear, I’m afraid,” she shouted against the howling wind. “Because you’re not going to walk down the aisle with Jack. I’m sorry, Megan, I know you think you’re the one for him, but Jack has to marry Flora. They’re destined to be together, you see? They have to be together.
“I’ve done everything I can to put her back in his thoughts since I arrived in Bliss Bay, but nothing worked. I thought tampering with the brakes on your car would have done the job, but then I saw it yesterday morning, still on your drive, and I guessed that plan hadn’t worked either. No matter, I’m going to make sure your hen weekend is one that everyone remembers forever... but for all the wrong reasons.”
Megan fell to her knees. “You messed with my brakes?”
Kimberly smiled a thin, spiteful smile. “When you have four brothers who have their own auto repair shop, you pick up all sorts of tips over the years. I know how to fix brakes, so I figured it couldn’t be too difficult to un-fix them. I think I did a pretty good job. Not that you’ll ever get to appreciate my handiwork now, though.”
“I couldn’t care less how you learned to nobble my brakes, you stupid, irresponsible cow!” Megan yelled. “I care that Jack’s taking my car to the garage today!”
The smile vanished and the blood ran from Kimberly’s face. “Call him! You have to call him and tell him not to drive it!” she screamed. “Call him!”
“I can’t call him!” cried Megan. “My hands are tied, you’ve got my phone, and there’s no signal anyway because we’re halfway up a bloody mountain!”
Kimberly scratched her arm until she winced in pain. She took deep breaths, in and out, in and out, to calm herself. “No. No, I can’t stop now. I have to see this through to the end.” She closed her eyes and her lips moved in a silent prayer. “Jack will be okay—I know it. A guy like him will know how to handle a car with no brakes, won’t he? He’ll be okay—he has to be.”
The wind blew away Megan’s tears as she bowed her head and prayed that Jack really was okay. And she prayed that this nightmare from hell would end safely, and that the clearly deranged woman standing before her would soon be in police custody.
“He has to be okay, because Flora’s his life partner,” said Kimberly. “She’s been waiting for him.”
“Flora? What are you talking about?” Megan’s eyes darted back and forth from Kimberly to the edge of the cliff, and she knew she had to keep her talking. “Jack and Flora broke up years ago—they broke up long before I even got to know Jack again. I hadn’t seen him since we were kids.”
“But then he went back to Bliss Bay and you found him again. You ruined everything.” Kimberly shook her head. “I don’t have anything against you, Megan. But you can’t marry Jack. For Luca’s sake.”
“Who?” Megan leaned forward to prolong the conversation for as long as she could. Help must be coming soon, surely? “I can’t hear you above this wind. What did you say?”
“I said you can’t marry Jack for Luca’s sake.”
“Who’s Luca?”
“He’s my godson,” said Kimberly. “I adore him.”
Megan gasped as a gust of wind so strong almost blew her to the ground. “But what does that have to do with me marrying Jack?”
The wail of the wind and the crunch of tyres on bumping over rough ground drowned out Kimberly’s answer.
Megan turned to see two police vehicles and an unmarked car. When Jack and a woman she guessed was Flora jumped out of one of them, she burst into tears.
Flora walked slowly toward them, her arms outstretched. “Kimberly, enough now. You didn’t have to do any of this, but now it’s finished.”
“No! You’re so close to getting Jack back. This is all you’ve wanted for years. We can all be a family—all of us together!”
“Not any more, Kimberly. And never like this. Please, come here. I don’t want you to do this. Whatever it is you’re planning, I never wanted it.”
Kimberly glared at Megan. “This is All. Your. Fault.”
Megan opened her mouth to protest, but Kimberly charged towards her and, suddenly, everything seemed to happen so slowly, yet she had no time to react. She held her breath and looked over her shoulder at the sheer drop just a few steps behind her, took a last look at Jack, and closed her eyes, waiting to fall.
And then she heard him calling her name over and over, and his arms were around her and dragging her from the edge of the cliff to safety. He untied her hands and took the gruesome veil from her head before pulling her into an embrace. As she trembled in his arms, she looked over his shoulder to see two officers restraining Kimberly and putting her in handcuffs.
“Th-there’s s-someone in the boot of the l-limousine,” she stammered, her teeth chattering with shock.
She watched a police officer put a blanket over Helen, and check her for injuries before taking her to hospital.
She watched the two police officers battle to put Kimberly into the back seat as she kicked, spat and struggled. As the car drove away, she saw her mouth something to her through the car window.
She watched Flora, just a few feet away, talking to Jack, and heard Jack tell her she must come back to the hotel before he drove her back to Bliss Bay.
And as she watched all this playing out before her, she pushed a thought from her mind, the consequences of which were so far reaching, she couldn’t even begin to think about them.
ººººººº
Back at The President Hotel chaos reigned while Evie and Claudia hugged Megan as though they were never going to let her go.
“She must have been following the limo,” said Louisa. “And waited until we’d all disappeared before she bundled poor Helen into the trunk... sorry, I forgot, you say boot here.”
“I knew I should have gone with you when you got that bloody text!” said Lizzie, tearfully.
“She’d better hope I never see her, that... that... I can’t say the word in polite company,” said Petal, who would never dream of uttering a profanity in front of Claudia, Sylvie or Louisa.
“Don’t worry about moderating your language in front of us, dear,” said Sylvie, her eyes glinting with rage. “Not on this occasion.”
Megan gave Claudia and Evie one last squeeze to end the hug, then drew back. “Everyone, I need to speak to Jack for a minute. And Flora. Would you mind just giving us a few minutes? It won’t take long.”
They all filed out, leaving Jack, Flora and Megan in the room.
“I’m so sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Megan,” said Flora. “I can’t tell you how awful I feel about all this. I never thought for a minute that Kimberly would go this far. She’s always been—”
“Who’s Luca?” asked Megan.
“Who?” said Jack.
Flora’s face turned ashen. “What did Kimberly tell you?”
Megan shrugged. “Not much. But enough that I’m thinking all sorts.”
“Sorry, who’s Luca?” said Jack.
“He’s Kimberly’s godson,” said Megan, when Flora said nothing.
“So what’s that got to do with you?” said Jack.
Flora wrung her hands before pushing back her hair and closing her eyes. “I didn’t want it to be this way. It was never meant to be this way, Jack.”
Jack looked from Flora to Megan and back again. “What wasn’t?” He threw up his hands and leaned back on the couch. “Look, is this some kind of secret language that only women understand, because I don’t have a clue what either of you are talking about, so is someone gonna tell me why we’re discussing Kimberly’s godson?”
Flora dropped onto a chair and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly before she spoke. “Because Kimberly’s godson is my son, Jack.” She looked him in the eye, and a tear fell onto her cheek. “And he’s your son, too.”
